IIT Roorkee To 3D-Print Face Shields For AIIMS Medical Staff

After making low-cost ventilators, IIT Roorkee has gone on to develop 3D-printed face shields for AIIMS Rishikesh’s medical staff.

The team makes the frame of the face shield using 3D-printing technology. It can be used together with the protective gear while treating COVID-19 patients.

In a statement, IIT Roorkee said that the protection shield had a spectacle-type design. It would be easy to be replaced as the transparent sheet wasn’t permanently attached to a reusable frame. And the cost of the sheet was only around Rs 5. Each shield would cost about Rs 45. And mass manufacturing cost would be under Rs 25.

The first batch with 100 face shields will be sent to AIIMS, Rishikesh. The team has developed the shield at IIT Roorkee’s “ReThink! The Tinkering Lab.” This is a technical facility that is accessible to all students at IIT Roorkee.

Professor Ravi Kant at AIIMS Rishikesh said that these face shields would be extremely useful not only for AIIMS Rishikesh’s medical staff but also for the whole country.

IIT Roorkee professors along with AIIMS Rishikesh doctors have made a cost-effective portable ventilator for COVID-19 patients. Called “Prana-Vayu,” the ventilator follows the prime mover’s controlled operation to provide the patient with the required amount of air. In its recent press statement, IIT Roorkee said that each of these ventilators would require a manufacturing cost of Rs 25,000.

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